This little excerpt is from the end of Chapter 9. The story has been moving right along the last couple of days, and while I can’t see it being completed tomorrow, there is hope for Saturday.

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Gardiner’s prediction was correct, and within a few short minutes, Elizabeth was warm and calm and ready to face Darcy’s relatives. Taking her hand and tucking it under his elbow, he escorted Elizabeth to the drawing room, her aunt and uncle following.

Elizabeth quickly took in the group of people rising from their seats at her entrance. There were an older couple in the center, rising from a sofa. To the left of them was a younger gentleman, probably a little older than Darcy. To the right was the familiar form of Colonel Fitzwilliam, and beside him, Mr. Bingley and his sister, and another couple.

Elizabeth listened as the eldest gentleman in the room asked for an introduction, and Darcy presented first the Gardiners and then Elizabeth. She curtseyed when her name was given, and rose from it to see the warm eyes of the elder couple looking at her. She self-consciously blushed and looked down.

Once the introductions were complete, Darcy escorted Elizabeth to a chair near his aunt.

“I am pleased to meet you, Miss Bennet. Darcy has told us so much about you.” Lady Matlock spoke in a cultured and proper voice, but there was a note to it that indicated the truth behind her words. She was indeed happy to meet the young lady who had turned her nephew’s head.

“I am happy to meet you, as well. I hope Mr. Darcy’s words about me were kind.” Elizabeth’s lips twitched as she glanced to her left at the man himself. Hearing Georgiana giggle from the other side of her brother, Elizabeth felt an answering chuckle rise within her and strove valiantly to suppress it. Her lips twitched with the effort.

Lady Matlock lifted her hand to cover her mouth, holding in her own laugh. Darcy was correct about this young woman. She is full of joy. He needs that; he is far too somber. Removing her hand once she had control of herself again, she assured Elizabeth of Darcy’s good opinion. “It was all good things, I assure you.” She paused, noting Elizabeth’s blush with approval. “Tell me about yourself. I have heard what my nephew has to say, but I should like to hear a first-hand account from you.”

“Oh,” Elizabeth cleared her throat. “I am the second of five daughters. My father’s estate was Longbourn in Hertfordshire. My parents and sisters died in a carriage accident, and I came to London to live with my aunt and uncle.”

“I am so sorry. I cannot imagine the pain that must cause you.”

“Thank you, my lady.”

~~~***~~~

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With the swiftly-approaching deadline to be compliant with the EU’s GDPR law, mailing lists have been the hot topic in writer circles, and therefore something I have been thinking about quite a bit.

GDPR is the General Data Protection Regulation, and it’s the European Union’s way of strengthening their citizens’ privacy. Every marketing effort aimed at EU consumers must protect their data: email addresses, mailing addresses, IP addresses, and more. The law comes with some hefty fines for violations. I have been told it’s something like ten percent of an entity’s income per violation. It’s my understanding that Honda has already been sued under this law.

What does it mean for authors? That’s been the subject of some pretty hot debate here lately, especially in Facebook groups. No one is really 100% certain what to do to be compliant, but most of us are making a good-faith effort at it. For me, it has so far meant making sure I have a privacy policy in place here on my website that explains what data I am collecting and how I plan to use it. It also has a section about cookies. I’m not sure I use them just yet, but I thought it best to include that section in case I decide to add them later.

I have also preemptively sent a note to my email list, asking them to update their preferences as to the manner of marketing they wish to receive. That may have been a mistake, as it can be seen as I had not legitimately received them in the first place. I did, because my list has been grown organically. With two exceptions, one being my first subscriber and one being a Patreon supporter, all of my subscribers signed themselves up. I added these other two ladies, because they had trouble. However, both of those updated their preferences, so I think I’ll be okay, should the EU start looking at me. Also, I have a double opt-in set up, which means you sign up, then get an email to confirm it. I couldn’t remember if I did or not, so I went and checked. The reason this is important is that the GDPR law requires subscribers to actively opt-in, and by clicking the link in the second email, they are assured that they are doing that.

The only area of this whole thing I’m really concerned about at this point is the free book. I give away a copy of my short story book, Bits of Ribbon and Lace, as a thank you for signing up for my mailing list. It could be argued that I have to give readers the book without them giving me their email address. I have no intentions of doing that. At this point, my website’s “Join the mailing list button” does not mention a free book on sign-up; I may need to change it so that it does and it is clear that the free book is only available to those who sign up. For now, though, I’m leaving it alone.

As I heard on Mark Dawson’s podcast about the subject, until there are court cases decided in this matter, it’s really hard to know what will get an author in trouble and what won’t. We need, in my opinion, to do what we can and then wait to see what shakes out.

Some of you may be reading this and scratching your head, wondering why I even care about a law in the European Union. Normally, I’d not worry about it at all. I gave serious consideration to making my privacy policy be a statement on the welcome page that said something like, “I promise to never sell or share your email address. I hate spam as much as you.” However, the GDPR gives the regulatory agency in the EU the power to sue anyone across the globe who misuses the identifying information of an EU citizen, including not sharing with the person the information that author or business has about them, and not immediately removing them from the mailing list upon the person’s request. Remember that fine I mentioned in the first paragraph? Ten percent of my income for even one subscriber is thousands of dollars. That’s money I’d rather keep in my pocket. Part of me says that they’re not going to come after a small-time author in the U.S., and if they did, I’d do what I could to get the government involved to defend me, but I’d rather not take the chance. It would take my time and attention away from writing, and as this is my only source of income, I can’t let that happen.

Are you an author or a small business person with a global audience? What are you doing in regards to GDPR?

I have edited the story to Chapter 8, out of which this excerpt is taken. I also added a few hundred words, but not many. I had to take a day or two and figure out just where I want the story to go, but I should now be able to pound out the words.

I’m still aiming for story completion by next Tuesday, but I don’t know that I’ll make it. I’m going to give it my best shot, though!

Did you know that for a monthly pledge of as little as $1 at Patreon, you can have early access to all my blog posts, including my Thursday ones? And, that the Thursday posts are expanded for my patrons, who usually get a whole chapter?

~~~***~~~

“I will ask your uncle for more information, then.” Darcy proceeded to share with Elizabeth the rest of what he had told Gardiner. He was unsurprised, given the fiery nature he knew her to possess, that she reacted angrily.

“Watching the house?” Elizabeth’s eyes flashed and her jaw set. “Who does this man think he is? I assume you feel he is somehow involved in the accident, or knows who is?”

“I admire your quickness of mind,” Darcy replied with a warm smile. “I do, indeed, feel that this man is somehow connected to your accident. Either he is the perpetrator, was hired by him, or knows him some other way. Haynes will find out, whichever of the options ends up being true.”

Elizabeth had begun to pace as she listened. She stopped when a terrible thought came to her mind. Facing Darcy, she swallowed back a sense of fear. “If the accident was meant to kill us all, and it appears that it was, is it possible this person is trying to … finish what he started?” Elizabeth’s mix of emotions—anger, fear, and grief—were demonstrated when she flushed and then paled. She gripped the back of the chair beside her.

Brutus, who had lain on the floor at her feet while Elizabeth and Darcy spoke, sensed his mistress’ distress, and stood, padding over to her and leaning into her side. Automatically, her hand rose to rub the side of his massive head.

Softly, Darcy replied, “It is possible, but your uncle has put things in place to protect you while you are at home. I have offered to do the same while you are out and about, and Gardiner has granted his permission for me to do so.” He watched Elizabeth take comfort from Brutus’ presence.

Elizabeth turned his words over in her mind for a moment, her hand constantly stroking her dog and her eyes gazing at the animal. Finally, she lifted her face to Darcy. “Why would you do that?”

~~~***~~~

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One of the things I need to have to get words out is quiet. I can’t focus when there’s a lot of noise. Here at home, in the Mistress’ Study, I turn on a fan and/or a small water fountain I have, to block noise. In the winter, the running of the furnace covers a surprising amount of sound, and in the summer, the air conditioner—when it runs—blocks out all noise.

But what do I do when the dogs bark? (And they do—a lot. They bark at everything that moves and some things that don’t!) What about the times I go outside of Burton Cottage to write? How do I handle that? And, is every writer like me?

The answer to that last question is a resounding NO. Many, many authors can’t write without some noise. Some of them play music when they write, often songs that go along with the story they’re writing. Some must have the noise of conversations around them. Some watch television or movies while they write. I’m kind of in awe of these people, to be honest.

But, back to me. Like I said earlier, my dogs do like to bark. Used to be just Selena, but she’s taught Jasper to do it, too. They don’t bark quietly, either. Nooooo. Jasper’s, especially, is often a deep, howl-like noise. And, they bark at anything and everything: birds in the yard next door, the cat that lives under the neighbor’s front porch, the kids walking home from the bus stop, the people walking into and out of the funeral home’s parking lot, the UPS guy, even the kids across the street, who are waaaaay back in front of their garage. Every house in the neighborhood is safer with my Boxers on patrol! But I digress …

How I handle the dogs is three-fold. I ignore as long as I can. When that stops I either shush them or yell at them to knock it off. Totally depends on my frustration level. I turn on the aforementioned fountain and/or box fan sometimes. My last resort is earplugs.

I bought purple foam earplugs a few weeks ago. They work well, as long as my allergies are not bad. However, once my sinuses start filling up, the earplugs begin to hurt and become distracting and I have to take them out. I’ll keep using them as often as I can, though. The dogs are usually downstairs when they’re barking, and the floor muffles the sound a tiny bit anyway. I should mention that I have gotten the dogs into the habit of remaining downstairs for up to three hours at a time while I nap or work or whatever. Usually, they’re pretty quiet down there. They play a little and lay on the couch a lot. I really need to extend that time, but by the time three hours have passed, I’m hungry. LOL

I don’t always want to write at home, though. I really do enjoy going out once in a while, plus I think I need to get the dogs used to me being gone more often. Down near the WalMart that’s near my allergy doc’s office, they have put in a Starbucks. I plan to go down there at least once a month to write for a couple hours, since I have to go down to get my shots anyway. I also found a Panera bread in the area, so I plan to write there once in a while, too. Of course, there are two libraries I can utilize—one in my town and one in a town south of me. What I have done so far in these places is just not stay long and not get much written; however, I plan to take my earplugs and try to use them. None of the places outside my home in which I write are terribly loud, and I think the earplugs will work fine, as long as my allergies are not out of control.

There are other things I have tried, such as “colored” noise, like white noise, yellow noise, brown noise, etc. However, I found those too distracting. That seems odd to me, because I have to have a fan in the room, running, in order to sleep. *shrug* Just one of my little eccentricities, I guess!

Do you like noise or quiet? If you’re a writer, and you like quiet, how do you handle noise?

I have hit a little bump in the road. I’ve not written in a week, though I have done some editing. I still hope to have the story finished in a week or so. I have not lost hope yet. I don’t have quite 300 words here. Sorry about that!

Did you know that for a monthly pledge of as little as $1 at Patreon, you can have early access to all my blog posts, including my Thursday ones? And, that the Thursday posts are expanded for my patrons, who usually get a whole chapter?

~~~***~~~

Darcy smiled at her words, looking down for a moment before looking into her eyes again. “It sounds as though he loved the estate.”

“He did. He had many fond memories of growing up there. My room had been his when he was a boy, and Jane’s had been his sister’s. His stories made the house feel alive, if that makes sense.” She inhaled, holding her breath and looking around as she searched for words. “He gave it a personality, if you will.” Elizabeth looked at Darcy to see understanding in his eyes.

“My father did the same with Pemberley.”

“It is hard to believe he is gone, and that I will never see my childhood home again.” Elizabeth’s eyes began to well with tears. Though she had almost a year of grieving behind her and had largely been able to face each day with equanimity, other than riding in carriages, every once in a while the reality of her loss slammed into her. She turned her face away, endeavoring to control her emotions.

Darcy immediately offered her his handkerchief. “My own father has been gone five years, and I still feel it at times, if it is any consolation. I think the loss of a parent, especially when one is so young, leaves a hole that never completely heals. Please do not feel uneasy about it.”

~~~***~~~

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Here’s what I did, first and foremost, and I know that I have mentioned this before: I gave it a cover that screamed Regency (i.e., it was genre-appropriate.) I’m convinced that this is the biggest factor in its success. Of course, it had excellent editing, and I slaved over the corrections. I also agonized over the blurb. I remember whining to Leenie that blurbs used to be easy, before the JAFF market was flooded with new authors.

Those were the basic steps to promoting this book. They’re essential, really, for all books. But, was that all it took for the book to be successful? Did anything else matter?

Well, I don’t know, and I’m not going to “test” to find out. Instead, I’ll copy what I did, as far as I can remember a month later.

Funds for advertising have been limited, so I chose this time to advertise mostly for free. This meant posting often on my Facebook profile and page, and in both my reader’s group, Burton’s Babes, and in the group I created with Leenie and Rose, Longbourn Literary Society. Then, I took a list of groups that allow self-promotion, and I posted in two or three groups a day for the first week. I let it ride on the weekend, posting nothing, then made a meme with an image of an Amazon review of the book on it, and made the rounds of those same groups again.

I did boost two posts on Facebook: my initial post, which contained my Gumroad link (I think) and an Amazon link the first week; and the post I made on my page with the review. Of those two, the first week got a few more impressions, clicks, and reactions than the second, but not many. Combined, I spent $40. Not bad, really.

Another thing I did to promote myself was to submit the book to a Regency newsletter. I have forgotten which one now, so I never even saw it “in print” but I did submit it.

I gave away copies of the book, too. I dropped a Bookfunnel link in Burton’s Babes for ten copies, first-come, first-served, and did the same for my newsletter.

I did no blog tour. I have only done one or two in my career, though I have been on a few blogs as one-offs. I did a tour, if I recall correctly, when I released Decisions & Consequences, and that’s the only book that has done better than this one in my entire career. I’m considering doing a tour for the next book, though there will only be probably three or four blogs that I approach, and one or two I plan to assiduously avoid. There’s no point in sending a book to someone to review who does not like books written in my style. I’d rather not waste my time and energy or the blogger’s time and energy.

Besides a blog tour, what do I intend to mimic for my next release? I think spreading out my promos in Facebook groups was a good strategy. With the way Facebook hides things, I think there was a bigger chance of people seeing at least one of my posts when I spread them out. I hope to boost at least one of the posts.

I might do a preorder this time, and offer that link and my Gumroad link to my newsletter subscribers. I will also give away books like I did with Betrothal.

I think I’ll also submit the book to more than just one Regency newsletter. And this time, I’ll pay attention to which ones!

Of course, it should go without saying that the new book, To Save Elizabeth, will have a genre-appropriate cover and a strong blurb, as well as good editing.

I think with this plan in place, it will be relatively easy to replicate my astoundingly good numbers from Betrothal, don’t you?